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New Hires Point to Apple's Continued Research on Next-Generation Health Sensors

Apple only launches one big thing at a time in order to focus on its success


the trend is all around wearable devices at the moment and Apple won't miss the opportunity

this only means one thing: the future "Apple TV" won't arrive anytime soon

we'll see a watch/wearable sport/health device coming first
 
Would a commercially available sensor / chip / software be able to tell if the watch / strap / band was being worn by someone other than its owner?
 
NT1440 said:
I've been saying it for a while now, but Apple's smart watch will define the industry given the massive amount of health purchases made recently.
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I agree with you if you mean this in the medium to longer term. I'm working in blood glucose monitoring, which is the world's largest market for point of care or wearable diagnostics. The technology that these people are working on (and this also goes for Google's glucose measuring contact lenses) is far from market entry and needs years of clinical trials to be admitted to an approval process for the FDA. In addition interstitial measurement and eye-fluid measurement is ways off from being accurate and have large lags.

It will be 5-10 years before we will see an FDA approved, accurate product that will be able to compete with actual blood glucose measurement.

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grapefruitx said:
A regulatory minefield, apple will have completely underestimated.
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The actual approval process for medical devices is pretty straightforward and takes on average about 6 months. This is however a new product category, which has proven to be a bit more difficult to get approved by the FDA and EMA and will take much more product development time and clinical trial effort to get to the point where a marketing approval can be obtained.
 
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MichaelBarry said:
So now they'll know our blood type too!!
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Maybe. With that not so vital to keep secret info one could be informed via text alert when they need to get down to the nearest blood bank because their type is needed. Mines O+, by the way. Maybe some blood banks already do this, but mine doesn't. As an opt in possibility, it could do wonders for saving lives.
 
peterdevries said:
I agree with you if you mean this in the medium to longer term. I'm working in blood glucose monitoring, which is the world's largest market for point of care or wearable diagnostics. The technology that these people are working on (and this also goes for Google's glucose measuring contact lenses) is far from market entry and needs years of clinical trials to be admitted to an approval process for the FDA. In addition interstitial measurement and eye-fluid measurement is ways off from being accurate and have large lags.

It will be 5-10 years before we will see an FDA approved, accurate product that will be able to compete with actual blood glucose measurement.

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The actual approval process for medical devices is pretty straightforward and takes on average about 6 months. This is however a new product category, which has proven to be a bit more difficult to get approved by the FDA and EMA and will take much more product development time and clinical trial effort to get to the point where a marketing approval can be obtained.
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As you say its not just the submission, its all the stuff you have to do support it, FDA audits, Documentation, post market vigilance , supplier audits, same again all around the world. Turning a consumer electronics company into a medical device manufacturer, Good luck with that, doable I suppose if you the hire the right people follow what they say, Apple have the money.
 
7thson said:
Maybe. With that not so vital to keep secret info one could be informed via text alert when they need to get down to the nearest blood bank because their type is needed. Mines O+, by the way. Maybe some blood banks already do this, but mine doesn't. As an opt in possibility, it could do wonders for saving lives.
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Why? Your blood type doesn't change. Registering with the blood bank and leaving your telephone number would be sufficient. There is no need for a device that continuously measures your blood type. The value here is in measuring things like blood glucose, toxins, hematocrit and other things that vary over time and have an impact on your health.
 
peterdevries said:
Why? Your blood type doesn't change. Registering with the blood bank and leaving your telephone number would be sufficient. There is no need for a device that continuously measures your blood type. The value here is in measuring things like blood glucose, toxins, hematocrit and other things that vary over time and have an impact on your health.
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One of the biggest challenges blood banks face is getting people to donate on a consistent basis. I'm not saying Apple is likely to integrate this feature into any product, but it would make it easy to reach out to people in times of need. Like I said before they, the blood bank, don't offer a service like this in my area. They rely on radio and other media to get the word out when they need a particular blood type or platelets, etc.
 
It is high darn time that women took their proper place in the tech world, designing, building and imaging the future. I'm thrilled! Women and men approach problems differently and together can create a synergy which is greater than their sum taken as individuals.
 
addicts get ready

I can see the same people constantly checking their vital signs in the coming years the way they check their text messages, emails and social media accounts. One more electronic thing to take us away from enjoying the moment and obsessing over nonsense. Of course the google equivalent with be cheaper but with a zillion ads to look at first.
 
Here lies the difference between Google and Apple. Google shows off prototypes before they are even ready or only work in theory (Om Malik has a great article on why contact sensors for diabetes is a horrible idea.). With Apple they keep everything locked away until it's time (well most of the time except for the first iPhone and the most recent pro mac). We have no idea what sick technology apple is planning on having. Imagine nano needles with silver alloy for sterilization to ensure people can share their wearable tech with other people. For all we know Apple has a lab building just devoted to the stuff I used to see at the BME labs at my alma mater Johns Hopkins. They could be doing revolutionary stuff that could help us leap frog medical technologies. This is why people that claim Apple is losing the innovation edge clearly don't understand how Apple works. Apple doesn't show off random prototypes to make people go OOH and AWWW. I bet if Apple allowed these naysayers to spend some time in their labs the people would come back literally giddy with excitement on what the future of apple tech holds.
 
I love the Fitbit app coupled with my iPhone 5s's M7 fitness sensor :) Heart rates, etc. would be even better :D
 
vinnie603 said:
It matches the flowers in the back beautifully :p
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lol, it does!

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skottichan said:
I kinda find it sad that many of the comments are about the color of Ms Dougherty's hair and not her resumé.

With that out of the way. I'm really impressed with the new hires and the aim to create/improve health sensors. My mum's a Type 2 Diabetic, and anything would be better than the current monitor system.
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Her hair is awesome! But to be fair, I didn't read either of their resumes.
 
hansonjohn590 said:
It's hard to take someone like that seriously.
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If for "someone" you refer to the woman hired by Apple I would urge you to realize that she is a top level professional in her field, not an easy one, and young as she is she probably earns hundreds of thousand of dollars per year. Shouldn't this suggest that your belief is just a preconception?
 
nexusrule said:
If for "someone" you refer to the woman hired by Apple I would urge you to realize that she is a top level professional in her field, not an easy one, and young as she is she probably earns hundreds of thousand of dollars per year. Shouldn't this suggest that your belief is just a preconception?
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But she's not in a pants suit and holding onto the rigid norms of corporate america, how could anyone respect an independent person like that in the era of Big Business??

;)
 
skottichan said:
I kinda find it sad that many of the comments are about the color of Ms Dougherty's hair and not her resumé.
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Not sure why you find it to be sad. It isn't like she was born that way. Anyone who dyes their hair a bizarre color is making a deliberate statement. They want it to be noticed. So we did.

I'm sure her resume is impressive, or we trust Apple would not have hired her. But her hair is still magenta.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Not sure why you find it to be sad. It isn't like she was born that way. Anyone who dyes their hair a bizarre color is making a deliberate statement. They want it to be noticed. So we did.

I'm sure her resume is impressive, or we trust Apple would not have hired her. But her hair is still magenta.
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Exactly

Some women are just plain odd

Ok, so I'm going to deliberately wear this really low cut dress to expose to top half of my breasts which I know is socially near the mark and going to make people look at my breasts, THEN I am going to complain and feel upset that people keep looking at my breasts whilst I am trying to talk to them about an important subject.
 
Piggie said:
Exactly

Some women are just plain odd

Ok, so I'm going to deliberately wear this really low cut dress to expose to top half of my breasts which I know is socially near the mark and going to make people look at my breasts, THEN I am going to complain and feel upset that people keep looking at my breasts whilst I am trying to talk to them about an important subject.
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V67e1cG.jpg
 
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